CompTIA Reseller Transformation Advisory Council

Reseller Transformation Advisory Council (RTAC)

On March 10, 2005, CompTIA, at the request of its members, brought leading IT organizations together to investigate and address the financial health of the Reseller/Solution Provider community. Industry leaders noticed a decline in the ability of the reseller to succeed in selling and delivering value to end users. It seemed as though businesses were pushing IT products, but continued to have declining margins. The IT supply chain needed a committee to provide guidance and best business practice education.

CompTIA established the Reseller Transformation Advisory Council (RTAC), to set industry standards and collectively support and educate the solution provider channel. RTAC works with manufacturers, distributors and suppliers who are committed to the channel’s economic success, to develop tools and resources that will help solution providers add value to their products and services.

Mission Statement
To promote the Computing Technology channel’s economic success by improving the business skills, marketing, sales, and delivery of technology-based solutions to its customers.

Business Problem Statement
Consumers are becoming more sophisticated in the way they buy computer technology products and services. Customers increasingly look to their suppliers to solve business problems and provide measurable results. Resellers who do not provide the kinds of solutions their customers need and want will either go out of business, or fail to realize their full growth potential as the market opportunity expands.

RTAC Objectives

• Set the scope parameters
  • Document/validate the problem with research data and metrics
  • Market forecast data, failure statistics & predictions
  • Survey / audit representative reseller sample
  • Document the role and value of CompTIA in the past
• Analyze the data to gain insights to the root cases
  • Identify the causes that RTAC can actually address
  • Define risks and isolate causes that cannot be addressed
• Propose a solution set to address the problem
• Evaluate alternative approaches
• Approach the body/conduct focus group/review for channel input
• Assess and prioritize based on internal core competencies
• Analyze capabilities, resources available, cost/benefit estimates, etc.
• Recommend a course of action with execution steps and timelines
• Define roles & responsibilities among the parties required to implement the solution
  • How CompTIA will be leveraged
  • Manufacturer role, sponsorship & commitment
  • Channel role & commitment
  • Role of distributors and third parties
• Establish metrics to reliably predict channel partner success
  • Role of CompTIA, manufacturers, resellers, solution providers
  • Components of metrics, methods of validation
  • Trustmarks